On Monday, Nov. 18, the Board of Education named Al Lopez to be the new Director of Security at Niles North.

Lopez has been serving in the Skokie Police Department for over 32 years. He started as a regular patrol officer and in 2011, he was named the Deputy Chief of Operations. Lopez went to school at Loyola University of Chicago, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice.

Throughout his career as a police officer, Lopez has received numerous professional awards, such as the Skokie Police Department chief’s Award of Merit, which he received twice.

Dr. Ryan McTague, principal of Niles North, had a very important role in helping decide who the new security director would be. One of the biggest factors that went into the decision was Lopez’s connection to the community. “Because he has served over 30 years in the Skokie Police Department, there is automatically a real community connection,” McTague said.

“He also has also served within our school, working different details as a police officer. He has been highly connected with all of our crisis planning. He managed over a hundred officers who have a lot of knowledge about the community and our school, so I think he brings not only a great police awareness and community awareness, but he also brings a lot of knowledge about our schools, our needs and our students.”

Lopez will not start as the Director of Security until Dec. 11, but he should be in and out of the school from time to time in order to get the hang of being in a large school like Niles North and also to start interacting with people.

“What I think you will find is that he doesn’t have that typical police officer mentality or persona,” McTague said. “He is very approachable and he understands the needs of our students. He isn’t just here to keep us safe, but also to make connections with the students and with their parents.”

Lopez will be a great addition to Niles North and we should all make sure to give him the warm welcome that our school is known for.